Nets' Kevin Durant Will Not Play if NBA Resumes This Summer: Report

If the NBA does indeed return this summer, it will continue on without Kevin Durant.

The Brooklyn Nets star who has spent the year recovering from a torn right Achilles will still be held out for the remainder of the season, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on his podcast.

“Kevin Durant’s not coming back to the Nets this year,” Wojnarowski said. “That’s not happening. … They’re not playing him.”

Speculation on whether or not Durant could return began ramping up in recent weeks and was fueled further by recent remarks by Nets GM Sean Marks, who did not provide a clear answer.

When asked by a New Zealand newspaper if Durant could return, Marks said, “That’s the $110 million question.”

The Nets are currently in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, and if the NBA resumes, there is a very good chance it begins with the playoffs and the possible addition of Durant would be huge.

But even as Durant has gotten healthy, his agent – Rich Kleinman – has also said Durant will not be playing as recently as last month.

The Nets signed Durant last summer to a four-year, $164 million contract, knowing that he would likely miss the entire 2019-20 season. The NBA season was suspended on March 11 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and there is no certainty of if the season will return at all, although some are still hopeful it can be salvaged this summer.

Durant was among several NBA players who tested positive for the coronavirus, but is believed to have recovered by now.